Hope Of Glory
Registered User
Agree. But can be built without top 5 picks
Jets, bruins, sharks, flames. We've had better picks than them over the past decade.
All better teams than ours.
Jets had better picks than us I believe (off the top of my head, Laine, Scheifele, Ehlers, even Trouba was drafted early I think).
Bruins benefited from that great Kessel trade but also did a good job outside of that.
True for the Sharks. Wilson built an awesome team without tanking. But he's also one of the best GM in the league, something I don't believe Bergevin is. He never showed any of the trade acumen DW has in 7 years at least. No cup though.
Flames are an interesting mix. Some good trades, some luck (Gaudreau), some high draft picks (Monahan, Tkachuk). Also no cup and weren't even good before this year. They were going nowhere until the past summer's big trades. We'll have to see how they fare in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Chicago (x3), Pittsburgh (x3), LA (x2) and Caps all won cups and had a lenghty rebuild. I don't think it's impossible to win a cup without rebuilding but odds are certainly not on that side. Rebuilding/tanking is definitely not only about drafting. It's only the start, you got to be able to make big moves too (Hossa, Richards/Carter, Oshie + drafting Kuzy outside the top 20).
In any case, you need a great GM. If you don't tank, you need an even better one. I have absolutely 0 confidence in Bergevin being that guy, sadly. Hopefully he proves me wrong but 7 years is a long time and he hasn't done anything that would ease my doubts.